The Bounty Hunter and the King's Son

Chapter three

All things considered, this was working out pretty okay for Dream. Sure, It would've been fantastic had he not run into this man in the first place but...things could be worse. His mask was temporarily broken, he could deal with that easily. He couldn't deal with a body at the moment however, so he had no choice but to hear the man out.

But the Prince's private quarters? He couldn't have gotten luckier.

Of course though, Dream was far from stupid and knew how to tell if he was being lied to. He'd been studying the shorter man before him, and came to a brief conclusion within seconds of their first interaction. 

He was wearing really nice clothes which indicated he was treated well inside the castle. He had to have been some sort of servant, but even they didn't wear such finely sewn outfits. Dream wasn't too focused on what his job was inside the castle, but more on the why he was on the run from it. He didn't look like a bounty hunter and clearly lacked the agility and physical attributes to be one anyways.

He was beginning to get really suspicious really fast, and it was getting difficult to make the choice. He didn't think the boy before him was lying but he couldn't be one hundred percent sure, they'd only just met.

Dream could tell the stranger was uncomfortable underneath his examining gaze, too much time had passed and he was getting anxious. Dream couldn't have the stranger running away and giving out his identity, even though it seemed like the he had no clue of his background. For now, Dream would believe he wasn't bluffing and did indeed have some access knowledge of how to get into the Princes quarters. He nodded and the boy let out a held breath, clearly relieved.

Dream pointed at a nearby chair and commanded him to take a seat. He was still weighing his options and needed a second to plan, he began to pace once lost in his thoughts. After a few moments, Dream came to a conclusion and stopped suddenly in front of the stranger.

"I'll take you to Clairvent and no further, and after we get there you give me a detailed map leading to the Princes quarters. The trip will take no shorter than three days time but we need to have it done in two." Dream began walking around the room once more, looking for the weak floorboard where he kept materials. 

When the Floor let out a cry, he knelt and peeled the floorboard back revealing a duffel bag. After digging around for a few seconds, he pulled out some adhesive glue. It should fix up his mask situation, though, he supposed if the boy was going to recognize him It'd be through his signature mask.

Turning around with the glue, he carefully pulled his shattered mask out from his hoodie pocket. Laying the pieces on the table, Dream quickly got to work on the glueing process. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, the many crack on the rounded mask showed that. 

Staying silent, the stranger watched Dream's every moment and with every breath got more and more anxious. Dream occasionally glance over his way, and kept mindful of the boys movements. Even if he decided to run, he wouldn't get very far.

After about half an hour later, the mask was glued together and the extra dried bits had also been sliced off by Dream's pocket knife. When he picked it up to examine his handiwork, he noticed the sharp inhale of breath the stranger had taken and sighed. 

Of course he'd know who he was, everyone did he just hoped this time it'd go a little easier for him. He'd even bet the prince he was hunting would know his mask too, despite being locked away for most his life.

"It's clear you now know who you're dealing with..." Dream began, unsure of how he was going to go about this. He needed to be direct and assertive, "You try anything, and I'll kill you."

Okay maybe not that direct...

The boy sitting before him shivered and his eyes said it all. He was obviously terrified of Dream and would follow every direction given to him from this point on. Dream strapped the mask back over his face, feeling much more himself with it on, he relaxed into a seat across from the stranger. 

He hummed lightly thinking of his next five moves, needing to stay ahead of the deadline he'd been given. Today was Sunday, he needed the prince by the next Sunday and had six days to get him. He tapped his foot on the ground aimlessly, he wondered if it'd be worth it to help the stranger. There was the chance he was lying to Dreams now masked face, but his gut was telling him the opposite was happening.

The trip really would take three hours on normal time, but Dream had friends everywhere and knew a certain cowboy who could help with the trip. It'd take no time at all to contact him and he had blackmail to use to get his help. Two days there and two back left him with two days to get the prince, or one day and a day to spare but he began to figure he'd probably need the extra time.

"Whats your name?" Dream crossed his arms and leaned back. If he put a name to the face, it might keep him reminded that he didn't need to kill him immediately. Dream planned to take the boy to Clairvent then kill him for sure. 

He really couldn't risk having his face leaked to the public and didn't know the boy well enough to even begin to want to trust him. Even his closest "friends" didn't know his true identity. There was only one other person he knew for sure knew his true identity, but he'd never see her again and she'd never see again.

"George..." He answered after a few heart beats. Dream figured he was telling him his real name, though foolish of him it would've been more foolish to tell a lie. A small smile grew on his face, hidden by his mask.

"You can call me Dream, though I don't really care if you speak at all during this adventure unless asked to." He replied. He knew George would know if he had lied about his name too, seeing as he recognized the mask. Coughing, the smaller male looked as if he wanted to admit to knowing Dream's bounty hunter identity, but stayed silent out of fear.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, let's get one thing straight." Dream hated teaming up with others simply for the higher risk to himself, "You get in my way at all, you're dead. You alert guards to my whereabouts, you're dead. You get us in any kind of trouble, you're dead. Understand?" He leaned forward, hands knitted together. He didn't need dead weight holding him back, and he needed to make that super clear.

"I place a toe out of line I die, got it." George kept his eyes glued to the floor, still very uncomfortable but face full of disappointment. Dream ran a hand through his dirty blond hair, getting too long for his taste, and pulled his mask to the side of his head so his face was once more exposed. 

He stood up and began to walk over slowly to George, simply for suspense, and when their eyes met he chuckled. Reaching out his right hand to George, he put on his best innocent look. George wasn't convinced even slightly, if anything he became even more rigid.

However, the brunette grabbed the blondes gloved hand. What other choice did he really have anyways?

Dream pulled him up out of his chair with one tug, and led him to a back room. There was a bed, maybe a full twin, and a medium-sized desk in a dark corner. It wasn't much but it was what Dream had slept in for the last month. 

He let go of Georges hand and proceeded to walk over to the desk. Grabbing a silver knob, he slid a drawer open and grabbed one of his shirts and shorts. He laid it on the bed sheets, which were slightly dirty seeing as he had no way to wash anything, and gestured to George.

"Use these for tonight." Surprise flashed across Georges face as Dream shifted the mask back down over his. "I know it's not what you must be used to, seeing as you come from inside the castle, but it's what I have."

"Uh...Thanks I guess?" George went and grabbed the clothing before glancing at Dream, "Is there another room or...?"

"Oh right sorry, I don't get a lot of guests," He laughed awkwardly before heading toward the door they'd entered from. "Oh by the way, we'll be getting up early and I'll be right outside the door all night so don't try to be brave. G'night." And then he left. Closing the door behind him, he wondered how the rest of the night would play out. Though he liked when things were interesting, this time he thought it'd be best not to play with his food.

This was going to be a long week.